Darling, Save Me
by antigonus
Summary: Rose Weasley's life is in a downward spiral. Her father's a cripple, her mother is too busy for the family, and her cousins and extended family act like nothing is wrong. On the first day of her sixth year, she decides to make some change, and that change presents itself in the form of Scorpius Malfoy.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first ever fanfiction. I've been in love with the idea of Scorpius and Rose becoming a couple despite their families' backgrounds, and well, I decided to give it a try.**

 **Disclaimer: J.K. is bae, and owns everything but the story line.**

 **Chapter One: Hold Your Breath**

With a deep breath, Rose Weasley ran her trolley onto Platform 9 3/4. The bright atmosphere and sounds of hundreds of people made her feel more alive than she had felt all summer. She reveled in the welcoming warmth she felt as soon as she had appeared on the other side of the barrier and shivered as she shed the remnants of the cold atmosphere of the Weasley household that had encompassed her soul the past few months.

She managed to suck in another breath before she heard the rest of her family bustle through the barrier. Hermione Weasley, nee Granger, her mother, was pushing Ronald Weasley, her father, in his wheelchair. After nearly twenty-five years an auror, Ronald Weasley had been forced into retirement after a serious injury had damaged his spine. The spinal injury had left him immobile from the waist down. The healers swore that his spine had healed well and that he should be able to walk, but his immobility proved difficult to overcome.

The traumatic series of events that had unfolded had left Ron in a progressively darkening mood. His mood swings had been growing and his pessimism increasingly deepening over the months at home. His depression was not alleviated by the fact that Hermione had just been promoted head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Not only was she spending less time at home, but she was progressing in her career while her injured husband had just been honorably discharged from his own.

He had a stone cold look on his face, trying to maintain any dignity he had left. One third of the Golden Trio being unable to stand to bid his children farewell was a deep blow in Ron's dwindling pride. Hermione was trying her best to look happy, but it was clear that she was irritated and even on the borderline of impatience.

 _Eagerly waiting for the moment she can drop dad off and escape to work_ , Rose thought bitterly, _but isn't that what I'm doing, escaping?_

Hugo trailed sullenly behind their parents. While Rose and Albus, her cousin, were both starting their sixth year, Hugo and Lily, Albus's younger sister, were starting their fourth. Hugo was as much Ron's son as Rose was Hermione's daughter. While Hugo was inching toward six feet in height, Rose had stopped growing at five foot four. Hugo had Ron's bright blue eyes, while Rose had inherited Hermione's soft brown ones. The only thing that they shared was that of the perfect combination of their parents' hair: bright orange and untamed.

Rose could tell that Hugo was just as relieved as she was to get back to Hogwarts.

"Well Rose, I suppose this is goodbye till Christmas, honey." Hermione pulled Rose into a hug before holding her an arms length to get one last look at her daughter, "you've gotten so beautiful and grown up, where has time gone!" Her mother planted a kiss on her cheek before heading over to wish Hugo goodbye. Rose wanted to shudder at how artificial her goodbye had felt.

Her mother's absence had left Rose with Ron. This time, Rose actually shuddered.

Ron barely looked at Rose before issuing a gruff, "I love you, be good."

Rose nodded, before grabbing her trunk and heading toward the train without turning around. Her father's cold farewell had stung like winter wind biting at skin. Rose chastised herself for even feeling hurt. He had been no better to her all summer, she should be used to it by now.

She boarded the train and began rifling through compartments looking for an empty one where she could finally get the peace and quiet she so desperately craved. Finally, toward the rear of the train, she found exactly what she was looking for. She stretched out on one of the sides and threw one arm over her eyes to block out the light that managed to get through translucent blinds. The train lurched into motion.

Rose was just starting to fade out of consciousness when she heard the door to her compartment sliding open. She frowned before peeling her arm away from her face to see the intruder. There stood in the doorway was Albus's best friend and fellow Slytherin, Scorpius Malfoy.

Rose had never paid much attention to Scorpius Malfoy in her six years at Hogwarts. He had been a shadow in her life, a player on the sidelines. They had shared a few words, a few conversations, Albus being the main reason they ever came in contact with each other.

Before Hogwarts, Albus and Rose were incredibly close. Being the same age, they were nearly raised together. However, once they had come to Hogwarts and got placed into different houses, Rose to Gryffindor and Albus to Slytherin, they had drifted apart. Albus was still her favorite cousin, and by far, her closest friend at Hogwarts, but they didn't do everything together and most definitely led separate lives from each other. Scorpius Malfoy was a prime example of this fact.

When news had reached home that Albus had been sorted into Slytherin, the entire Weasley Clan had been shocked. It was the first time ever that a child of Weasley blood had been sorted into a house other than Gryffindor, and as a Slytherin for that matter. While some of the Weasley relatives hadn't taken too lightly to this news, they were at least accepting. Imagine their surprise when everyone found out that Albus sent home a letter a few weeks before Christmas break asking his parents for permission to bring home his new best friend, Scorpius Malfoy.

Their friendship had been supported by most of the Weasley family. Her father and her Uncle George only just tolerated Scorpius now, since he had become a presence at family get-togethers. And yet, over those six years of Albus's and Scorpius's friendship, in juxtaposition to Rose's and Albus's friendship, Rose had never really developed past being acquaintances with this reserved boy.

She had never really wondered why she they hadn't been friends, or at least talked outside of the occasional small talk and classwork. Reflecting on it, she realized that it was probably just a manifestation of her dad's lack of acceptance toward the boy and his family and now here he stood before her looking incredibly uncomfortable.

"Morning Weasley, would you mind if I took a seat here? All the other compartments are occupied and Albus is er…otherwise occupied with his newest girlfriend." Scorpius looked at the ground, clearly embarrassed by his inability to find another compartment to occupy and ashamed by his friend's behavior.

Rose considered this. She considered him. Should she let him take a seat? Should she talk to him? Should she try to forge the friendship that her father had so adamantly warned her against over half a decade ago? As these questions whirled through her mind, she kept reflecting on one thing: this could be it.

Rose had her friends, a majority of which were her cousins, she had her classwork, all O's (she had to follow her in her mother's footsteps, didn't she?), but even while surrounded by people she knew loved her and her accomplishments, she felt as if her life was falling apart. Her father was essentially bed-ridden, her mother nearly apathetic, she felt on edge and the worst part was that her cousins pretended everything was fine. She felt something drawing her in. She needed something new, she needed a fresh start, and here was the opportunity presenting itself in the form of none other than Scorpius Malfoy.

"Sure, take a seat."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I wish I was JK.**

 **Chapter Two: This is the Start**

An awkward silence engulfed the compartment almost as soon as Scorpius took a seat. As the seconds ticked on, Rose began to deeply regret her decision. She resolved to just lie back down and try to resume her nap. She heard him take deep breath before speaking up,

"I appreciate you letting me sit here."

Rose propped herself onto her elbow before shooting the boy across from her a smile and shrugging, "It's of no consequence."

He smiled tentatively back at her. She took this moment to study him.

Scorpius Malfoy was an enigma to most of the population of Hogwarts. Hell, he's an enigma to everyone except Albus apparently. And right now, he was an enigma that was sitting right across from her. She studied his face. He had a well-structure face: high cheek bones, a perfect, slender nose, and the strangest eyes she had ever seen.

Perhaps, strangest wasn't the right word. Stunning, ha, now she sounded like a smitten school girl. Unique. They were like nothing she had ever seen before. They were gray, not cold, not warm, just a simple gray, and it wasn't bad at all. Hah, she almost laughed at the fact that they added to his school-wide image of an "enigma."

However, the smile on his face was genuine and she was surprised to find that despite the perfect nature of all his other features, his smile was crooked. The left side of mouth quirked up higher than the right.

"How was your summer?" The words left her mouth before she knew what she was doing. She noticed Scorpius's mouth twitch as his eyes reflected shock that she was actually speaking to him. Bugger.

"It was alright, nothing excessively out of the ordinary happened. It was good to spend time with my parents though. Dad took an entire month off from work so we could go on vacation to Italy. Italy is by far my favorite mainland European country."

"You went to Italy? That sounds amazing, I've always wanted to go!"

And just like that, the two teenagers slipped into an easy, friendly conversation.

"What's your favorite thing about Italy?" Rose was intrigued to hear what he had to say, expecting a shallow answer about Italian "birds." She had definitely spent too much time around her cousins, namely the dynamic duo, James and Fred.

"The architecture and history definitely. I love going and walking through the cities and just thinking about the people who had walked there hundreds of years ago. Galileo, Michelangelo, Da Vinci. The greatest minds of the Renaissance. The architecture definitely adds to the experience. The churches there, bloody hell, they're gorgeous, that's the only way to put it, and all done without magic. Unbelievable!"

Rose was shocked. "How do you know so much about muggle history?"

Scorpius looked embarrassed, "It was during muggle studies. The Michelangelo, the architect and sculptor, was mentioned, and I was intrigued, so I took it upon myself to do the outside research."

"A Malfoy interested in muggle studies!"

Her words had clearly offended him. A look of distaste crossed his features, and Rose could swear that she saw the gray of his eyes get darker.

"Oh so now I'm just being labeled a Malfoy." His voice was icy, and nearly sent a shiver down her spine.

She hadn't had realized that her words might have offended him. The fact that he was insulted by being called a "Malfoy," his own family's name, piqued her interest, but further questioning would have to wait till later. She needed to salvage the kindling of this new friendship.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause offense. It's just with your family's history and all, I would've assumed that your father would have been against you finding interest in anything related to muggle."

Merlin. Could she not hold her damn tongue?

Scorpius's features hardened even more, Rose opened her mouth to apologize again, but Scorpius cut her off and began speaking.

"I want you to know this right from the start: I am not ashamed of my family name. I have come to accept that it is a part of who I am. It's unfortunate that people will always see my last name before they see my first name. I will always be 'Malfoy' before I am 'Scorpius,' but I understand that, and I would've thought that you would have understood that too, but I suppose I was wrong. And for the record, my father has no issues with me studying muggle. Hell, he would support me if I wanted to take up bloody divination." Scorpius crossed his arms over his chest, a gesture that almost made Rose snort.

"I'm sorry, Scorpius. I didn't mean to be rude. It just came out." Rose was impressed at his outburst, he had clearly given that answer a lot of consideration, as it possessed the wisdom of someone a lot older than sixteen years old.

Her admiration for his words was coupled with shock, she had never witnessed Scorpius giving such an passionate speech. Usually, from what she'd experience through interactions with him in the past, he was very calm and composed. She must have really said something that had stung.

"I truly am sorry."

"It's fine. I'm used to it."

"That's no excuse. It doesn't matter if you're used to it, I shouldn't have done it to begin with."

Scorpius's eyes met Rose's and she felt something stir in her stomach, and she felt a moment of complete connection.

It was probably nothing, she though.

He must have seen the sincerity in her eyes because she saw the tension begin leave his face.

"Sorry for getting so worked up. It's a natural response at this point." he sighed, smiling sadly.

"No, and you're right about it, I do understand. I mean I don't understand completely, but I do get the general idea of it. My parents are part of the golden trio, and in addition to that, mum was the smartest witch of her age and dad was Gryffindor quidditch king. While you have a lot to live down, I have a lot to live up to."

Rose couldn't believe she had just told him that. She had never admitted that she felt that sort of pressure and resentment towards her family to anyone before, and she rarely admitted it to herself.

"You know, Weasley, you and I might understand each other a lot more than we ever though." Scorpius had an apprehensive look on his face.

"It's Rose. Call me, Rose."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm not JK. :(**

 **Chapter Three**

The rest of the train ride had been quite amiable and had left Rose feeling quite happy and content with her decision to let him come into her compartment. She had just about forgotten the troubles she faced at home and was having the most fun she had in three months.

They had discussed a variety of different topics such as favorite subjects to favorite quidditch teams. She was delighted to find that they shared similar interests in potions and transfiguration, two of the most challenging classes at Hogwarts, mind you, and even went so far as to invite him to study with her from time to time.

By the time the train had started to slow down and pull into a steady halt at the station in Hogsmeade, Rose and Scorpius were laughing their heads off at a memory of their second year that they both shared: the time during Potions when Albus managed to screw up a potion so badly that it had dyed his entire body orange for a week.

"Oh Merlin, that was so funny. He sulked around the dungeons forever, Rose. I had to bring him food the first two days, he refused to leave our dormitory!" Scorpius chortled at the memory of an extremely orange and incredibly embarrassed Albus.

"Is that how he managed to survive the weekend? We thought he had died of embarrassment." Rose was grasping her stomach, tears forming in her eyes from laughing so hard.

"Yes! It wasn't until I told him that he'd just have to go join Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom that he finally sucked it up." That statement resulted in another round of heavy laughter from both sixteen year olds.

"Oh, poor Al! His pride suffered so much, I remember that James wouldn't let it go for weeks after!"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the compartment door.

"Come in!" Rose said, giggling.

Both she and Scorpius were surprised to see Albus standing in the doorway.

"Speak of the devil…" Scorpius muttered under his breath and this sent Rose on another laughing spree.

Albus looked perplexed at the sight of his cousin and his best friend laughing with each other and being friendly. In all the years that Scorpius and Albus had been friends, he had never seen Scorpius so much as show an interest in conversing with Rose, and here it looked like they were two old pals just hanging around and catching up over the summer. He did not understand at all where the change in their relationship occurred, but he was happy that they had managed to find some common ground upon which they could be friends. Maybe now he wouldn't have to split his time between the two, which would prove to be even more difficult since he had just solidified his new relationship with Alice Longbottom, Neville's daughter.

"So, when did this happen?" Albus began conversationally as he took a seat next to Rose.

Scorpius and Rose looked at each other before Rose spoke up, "Just today, Al. Scorpius needed somewhere to sit and I was more than happy to oblige seeing as though I had an entire compartment to myself."

Scorpius just nodded in agreement, "Rose has been wonderful company while you were busy." He winked as Albus began to blush.

"Oh, hush up, Scorpius. Just because I can get a girl and you can't doesn't mean you have to be so pissy about it."

"Not true, Al. I could get any girl I wanted."

"Wrong. We all know you fancy yours truly! I'm sorry Scorpius, I know it hurts to be caught in an unrequited love, but I'm just not a two way street, if you get what I mean!" Al clutched his chest dramatically.

Scorpius shot Albus an frustrated glare, while Rose started laughing at the two boys' antics.

"Prick."

Finally Albus couldn't keep a straight face any longer and burst into laughter and Scorpius soon followed suit and then all three teenagers were smiling.

The train pulled to a stop.

"Well, we're here now. I best go find Alice, I told her I just wanted to make sure that Scorpius had survived the train ride. I'll see you two later!"

Albus jumped up from where he had been sitting and walked out of the compartment.

"We're here!" Rose nearly squealed with delight, Scorpius smiled at her eagerness, but he couldn't blame her, he was equally as excited to be back.

Both of them grabbed their cloaks and headed off the train, walking casually next to each other to get to carriages, both oblivious to the numerous side glances and blatant stares they were receiving from their classmates.

Rose made eye contact with one of the girls watching them and shrieked with delight before running over and nearly tackling her to the ground.

"Davina!"

The girls hugged, grinning like idiots. Davina Zabini was Rose's best friend. After being sorted into Gryffindor in first year (though Davina's family had been a long line of Slytherin), the girls immediately became close friends. Davina was tall, with mocha-colored skin and long straight black hair. She was gorgeous. She, like Rose, played on the Gryffindor quidditch team as a chaser and both girls got on wonderfully. Davina was currently dating Rose's older cousin, and Albus's older brother, James Potter.

"Rose! It feels like it's been forever!" The girls started giggling, it'd been only two weeks since they had last seen each other.

The girls were so caught up in greeting each other that Rose had forgotten that Scorpius had been walking with her. There was an awkward cough and both girls looked over to see Scorpius standing off to the side awkwardly.

"I'll see you around, Rose." Scorpius gave her a small wave before disappearing into the flood of people.

"Was that Scorpius Malfoy?"

"Yup."

"Since when have you two been friends."

"Since today."

"But what about the Weasley-Malfoy feud?"

"Excuse me?"

Davina looked Rose in the eye, "You know, the whole, 'don't get too friendly with him, Rose'"

"That was five years ago."

"So? The past five years it's made all the difference."

"That's absolutely not true and I wanted change, Dav. Please, just let it go."

"If you say so, Rose…"

The girls walked toward the carriage in an awkward silence.

"I'm sorry, Dav. I didn't mean to blow up on you. It's just, why does everyone have to have input on what I'm doing. It's always 'do this,' 'don't do that' blah blah blah. I had a stressful summer and it's just been getting to me." Rose sighed.

"Aw, come on. I'm just worried about you. I just never expected you to become friends with Scorpius Malfoy out of the blue. Don't you go replacing me now for those gray eyes, you hear?" Davina poke Rose in the side, and both girls giggled, the frosty atmosphere instantly melting. They climbed into the carriage.

"Come on, let's go get some food! I'm starving!"

"Damn, I guess the Weasley appetite will never change!"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE WONDERFUL BEAUTIFUL CHARACTERS.**

 **I'm not J.K. and I never will be.** **So sorry for the wait guys, I had finals and then winter break and then school started up again, but here I am! These first few chapters are honestly just build up, and hopefully the chapters to come will have a lot more substance, thanks for reading through this set-up. Cheers!**

 **Chapter Four: These Walls**

Rose had to exercise control to prevent herself from running through the doors to the Great Hall, not because she was anticipating the feast that would be awaiting everyone, but because she couldn't believe that she was finally back.

The site of it never failed to amaze her.

The Great Hall always possessed the ability to take Rose's breath away when she walked in after several months away. The hall was adequately lit by thousands of floating candles, the flickering lights casting what seemed to be millions of dancing shadows on the intricately designed interior. The gothic-esque walls of the hall stretched on for hundreds of feet before sloping inward to meet the opposing side in the center. The ceiling, charmed to imitate the sky outside, shone with light of stars. Even on days not as eventful as today, the Great Hall was a place of meeting and gathering.

It was the place where people got together before they had to go to class, the place where people got to eat lunch and receive letters from family, the place where people first met their new friends, their new families, the place that marked the amazing beginning of a Hogwarts education.

This was easily Rose's favorite room in the entirety of Hogwarts. This was what she thought of when she thought of home.

Rose trailed behind Davina, absorbing and relishing in the atmosphere. They made their way over to the Gryffindor table and for the second time that day, the first being her talk with Scorpius, Rose felt free from her family and all the unfortunate problems associated with it. She silently begged that this feeling of freedom would remain at least until Christmas, but she knew that the weight of all her problems wasn't that easily dissipated.

Davina dragged Rose down into the chair next to her, as the new first years began to make their ways to the front of the hall.

"Aw, they're so cute!" Dav whispered to Rose.

The sorting ceremony began, and one by one the first years got sorted into their future houses. Normally, Rose would've watched in reverent silence, but this was the fifth year of watching them and for some reason, she felt the need to distract herself.

Rose commented, "They get smaller and smaller every year."

"Maybe we're just getting bigger."

"Maybe you are, Merlin, you're what, 5'8" now?"

"Rose, we've been through this so many times, I can't help that you got fucked in the height department."

"Gee thanks."

"You know you love me."

"For reasons unbeknownst to me."

Dav stuck her tongue out at Rose, and both girls covered their mouths to conceal their laughter.

The sorting ceremony concluded with the sorting of a new Hufflepuff and Headmaster McGonagall rose and approached the podium at the front of the room, there was a near audible sigh that rose up from all the students seated at their respective tables. She began issuing her "beginning of the year" speech, a speech was infamous for being exceptionally boring and relatively long for a women who preferred things to be short and succinct. Rose was positive that she would be able to recite the speech verbatim if tasked to do so.

Rose was beginning to space out when she felt a jab in her side. She whipped her head around ready to glare at the perpetrator, o _f course it's Dav_. She thought that Dav had a mischievous look on her face and rose her eyebrow, questioning her friend. Davina's mouth broke into a sly grin when she jerked her head over toward the opposite side of the hall. Rose looked up, and her eyes locked immediately with someone sitting at the Slytherin table: Scorpius.

Scorpius flashed her his lopsided smile, and she chastised herself for feeling her heart falter. _Complete nonsense._

 _Shit, I've just been staring at him, I must look like I'm from the loony bin. Rose_ felt that familiar heat rise to her face as she smiled back at him, and he mock saluted her, two fingers raised to his brow. She nearly burst out laughing.

Davina shot her an interested look, Rose mouthed her a quick " _later._ "

She returned her attention back to Scorpius, sending him a look of mock disapproval as she gestured at him to focus on what McGonagall was droning about, and he shook his head in a completely exaggerated manner.

As she had done to Dav a few minutes prior, Rose rose her eyebrow in question. Scorpius's reply was a mixture of hand gestures that Rose realized was him mimicking hanging himself with a noose. Rose snorted rather loudly, drawing the attention of several people around her, including her younger and one of her closest cousins, Lily.

"Rose, what's going on, are you okay?"

"Allergies." Rose coughed to emphasize her point.

"I didn't know you had allergies."

"Recently developed, pretty awful. It's to some plant that Aunt Luna was talking about."

Lily nodded her head in acknowledgement, but her eyes pleaded Rose to stop talking. That always did the trick to get Lily to stop getting nosy. Lily was the gossip powerhouse of the Weasley-Potter Clan. At only fourteen years old, she was already one of the most popular girls in school and received the most attention from anyone and everyone.

However, despite sharing her middle name with their pseudo-aunt, Lily wasn't anything like Luna. Lily loved her godmother, but it was common knowledge that Lily Luna just couldn't stand the things Luna believed in and wrote about in her magazine, The Quibbler.

Lily redirected her attention to her friends, and Rose took the opportunity to glance over at the Slytherin table. Scorpius was still watching her. He looked concern, Rose flashed him a reassuring smile.

The Headmistress finally concluded her opening remarks and the feast began. The festivities continued without any further interruption, and soon it was time for everyone to retire to their dormitories and get some rest before classes started the next day.

The two Gryffindor girls collapsed on their beds, their roommates had yet to come up.

"So, you and Scorpius seem to be getting on pretty well?" Dav spoke abruptly.

"Oh come off it, Dav, we literally just started speaking today." Rose sent a glare in her direction.

"What will your family say?"

"Nothing. I mean they'll have something to say, but it's not up to them who I'm friends with."

"I mean, you guys were making faces at each other across the Great Hall, which was incredibly adorable might I add. That's pretty risky behavior, any one of your cousins could have seen it…I mean, you nearly got Princess Rumor herself to realize what was going on!"

"You seriously need to stop calling Lily, "Princess Rumor." If anything, it only boosts her ego. Dav, I'm honestly beyond the point of caring what my family thinks of anything I do. I was basically invisible all summer, so why should it matter right now?" Rose's voice began to rise with her distress towards her home situation.

"Oh Rose…"

A few minutes passed before they heard the footsteps of their three other roommates coming up the stairs.

"Rose, I'm here for you, and I'll support you and your decisions. And if your decision is to be friends with your parent's high school nemesis's son, then so be it. I'll stand by you even if it means taking up a stance against the biggest git in the universe. Oh don't give me that look, you know that James is **the** biggest git. I mean honestly, as much as I love him, he can be egotistical at times and has a very skewed sense of justice."

"Thanks Dav, I really appreciate it."

"Rose, hon, I hate to say it, but with your choice in friends, you're going to need it."


End file.
